Thirty years ago next week, Gary Thuerk, a marketer at the now-defunct computer firm Digital Equipment Corporation, sent an email to 393 users of Arpanet, the US government-run computer network that eventually became the internet. It was the first spam email ever.

That commercial message, sent on 3 May 1978, drew a swift and negative reaction. Recipients complained directly to Thuerk, who had made no attempt to hide his identity, and DEC was reprimanded by the Arpanet administrators.

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“DDJ: Which language has moved to the top of the heap, so to speak, in terms of popularity, and why do you think this is the case?

“PJ: If we take a look at the top 10 programming languages, not much has happened the last five years. Only Python entered the top 10, replacing COBOL. This comes as a surprise because the IT world is moving so fast that in most areas, the market is usually completely changed in five years time. Python managed to reach the top 10 because it is the truly object-oriented successor of Perl. Other winners of the last couple of years are Visual Basic, Ruby, JavaScript, C#, and D (a successor of C++). I expect in five years time there will be two main languages: Java and C#, closely followed by good-old Visual Basic. There is no new paradigm foreseen…”
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Bill Gates steps down as the Chairman of Microsoft on July 1st to transition to full time philanthropic efforts with the Gates Foundation. However, I wonder how effective Bill will be other than writing checks. You see Bill’s never played well with others.
* Microsoft v. United States
* Microsoft v. AOL (Netscape)
* Microsoft v. Apple
* Microsoft v. Sun

At a speech on Monday for the Institute of Systems Biology he gave a speech followed by a Q and A session he reportedly answered one poor chap’s questions on whether open source methodologies would be used in his research.
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Yes after I bragged up the fine weather of Canada I awoke to this fine kettle of fish today;

Yes folks snow in the flatlands and my old butt is gonna get cold, Baldy

Twelve cyber security veterans, with significant knowledge about emerging attack patterns, worked together to compile a list of the attacks most likely to cause substantial damage during 2008.

Participants included Stephen Northcutt, Ed Skoudis, Marc Sachs, Johannes Ullrich, Tom Liston, Eric Cole, Eugene Schultz, Rohit Dhamankar, Amit Yoran, Howard Schmidt, Will Pelgrin, and Alan Paller.

And yes folks this is a great read for anyone in the Security field, Baldy

Here’s their consensus list in ranked order:

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Web criminals fuel big rise in “trojans” – Yahoo! News

LONDON (Reuters) – Cyber-criminals are behind a dramatic rise in stealthy programs called “trojans” that infect computers to sell rogue software, send unwanted email or steal personal data, a study has found.

If you’re reading this blog, it’s very important that you read and understand this article.
I’ve personally seen exactly what is being discussed here. In just the last few weeks, I’ve had several computers come in to have rogue anti-spyware removed. Worse than that, one person (that I know of) actually purchased such software in a vain attempt to rid their PC of one of these malicious programs.

The reason behind this rise in infections is that more and more computers are equipped with software that detects malicious programs, the criminals see these programs as an easy way in. Instead of hiding their trojans and letting them run behind the scenes, they bring them into plain sight, disguised as anti-spyware programs.
Once infected, the computer will constantly issue the user authentic looking, warnings that spy-ware has been found, eventually prompting them to “click here” to fix the problem. Clicking the warning will take the user to a web site, where they are assured that if they download, purchase and install a program, they will be able to rid the computer of the infection. In all actuality you are simply adding fuel to the fire and opening yourself up to credit card fraud.

It’s genius really, spyware disguised as anti-spyware that scares you into purchasing and installing yet more spyware…

The moral of the story: In this day and age, more than ever, computer users must learn and understand what legit security software they have and how to use it. Knowledge is the only way to protect yourself.

Resources:

Top 10 rogue anti-spyware. ZDNet Blogs

List of Rogue/Suspect anti-spyware products and web site. Spyware Warrior

The best resource: Google! If you think you’ve been infected, search the name of the program you’re being asked in install, you’ll likely find out right away whether it’s legit or not.

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While browsing the Web without a mouse, graphics, fancy fonts, JavaScript, and Java can be sorely restrictive, it can also be quite speedy. If you’re a fan of function keys and special commands, you’ll be pleased to learn that these browsers provide plenty of shortcuts for every taste. After you gain experience, you’ll be able to navigate around with just a few key taps.

Try it folks that is the way I had to browse the web when I started, before those pretty pictures came out, Baldy

Linux.com :: Browsing the Web the old-fashioned way

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The three programs are similar in many ways. All three are primarily code editors with syntax highlighting, smart indentation, and other features to make writing and editing code easier. Screem is tightly integrated with the GNOME desktop environment, while Bluefish will run on KDE and GNOME. Quanta Plus is a KDE application distributed with KDE. It has visual editing features (what you see is what you get — WYSIWYG) in addition to extensive code editing features. All three applications have features for working with HTML, JavaScript, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and other markup or scripting languages. Additionally, all three have features for managing Web sites and projects, including CVS support.

Linux.com :: Three Linux HTML editors reviewed

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I found this out cruising the web and thought that a few of you folks out there might like to read it also, Baldy.

’m an Apple user.
Long time, pure bred, never owned anything else. Oh sure, I’ve used
Windows machines, but it’s never crossed my mind to use one daily.

I mean, Windows? Like
most Apple users, the very idea makes me vaguely anxious. When you’re
an Apple user, you’re a snob. You feel – no, you know – that your OS is superior. The machines are fast and secure, and they’re gorgeous, too.

The Macintosh is, without a doubt, one of my favorite things.

(Of course, we Apple
users don’t admit that Macs can crash, too. And that Safari can’t
handle certain Web features, including plenty of videos. And that being
non-Windows in a Windows world is inconvenient. Still, those burdens
are worth bearing for a computer this cool.)

An Apple User Tries Ubuntu

Microsoft finally ships Windows XP SP3 – and here’s how you can get it

Microsoft often simply seems to ignore XP, preferring instead to trumpet Vista – but it looks like Microsoft’s aged, and aging, operating system is wrapping up with the release of its certain-to-be-the-last service pack. Despite the focus on Vista, there have been a ton of questions about SP3. Fortunately, we have the answers, too.

IT Business

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